A 51-year-old dive tour operator found himself in the jaws of a Bryde’s whale while snorkeling off the coast of South Africa.

Rainer Schimpf is an experienced marine conservationist and photographer who was taking footage of the whales in a feeding frenzy.

The whale caught Schimpf head-first around his waist while he was swimming in the middle of the sardine bait ball and quickly released him as it swallowed the fish in its throat.

Anger and desperation are mounting in Venezuela as the country faces its fourth consecutive day without electricity.

Schools and businesses have been indefinitely suspended as citizens scrabble to find food, water, fuel, and cell coverage amidst highly patch power access.

Self-proclaimed President Nicolas Maduro has blamed US-backed sabotage for the nationwide blackouts but his critics adamantly blame the incompetence and corruption of his government who are yet to provide a diagnosis for what is causing the outages.

After seizing a heat stressed dog in Marsden yesterday with its mouth taped shut, unable to pant or drink, the RSPCA urges pet owners to take extra care of their animals in this current heatwave.

Last year, the RSPCA received almost 1500 calls about dogs being left in hot cars and more than 2000 calls about animals being left out with no shade or water.

Opposition leader Bill Shorten has committed to investing $112 million towards the third stage of the Gold Coast’s light rail project, in an attempt to win over voters in south-east Queensland.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has already committed funding towards the project if he is re-elected in May, and Bill Shorten has now matched that promise from Labor.

This comes after Shorten has already pledged to spend $2 billion on Brisbane’s Cross-River Rail Project.

The ALP and Climate Change have come out on top of the latest opinion polling.

With a federal election two months away, Newspoll has placed the two-party preferred vote at 54% for Labor and 46% for the Coalition - and the Guardian Essential Poll puts the vote at 53%-47%.

The Essential Poll also found that 51% of Australians say not enough is being done to address climate change.

Uber has responded to claims regarding its drivers are gaming the app for cancellation fees, claiming it will roll out a new solution by the end of next month.

Drivers are accused of deliberately taking long routes, or stopping long distances away from the rider’s location, to encourage them to cancel their trip request.

An Uber spokeswoman says that the practice is rare, and that of the 3.8 million Australians that regularly use Uber, driver cancellations represent a minute portion of all trips.

Last Saturday, a woman was attacked by a jaguar and left with minor injuries after stepping over the barrier at the United States’ Arizona Zoo.  

The woman crossed the barrier and approached the enclosure to take a selfie with the jaguar, but when she got too close, it swiped through the fencing, leaving deep gashes on her arms.

Wildlife World Zoo director Mickey Ollson said that the barriers are there for a good reason. He said the incident was a result of human error and the animal would not be euthanised.

Eleven people have been killed in intense floods rocking Latin America’s business hub, Sao Paulo.

Nearly 110 mm of rain fell over the region between Sunday and Monday afternoon, which according to experts is 70% of the total expected rainfall for March.

Commuter trains in Brazil’s largest city have been partially shut down, with buses and cars stuck in gridlock due to the resulting mudslides and road closures.